ITHAKA ON THE HORIZON: A Greek-American Journey

The Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki is located on the Turkish island known as Heyelbiada in the Bosporus straits. It was closed in 1971 by the Turkish government and is the subject of much controversy since it is the only seminary in Turkey and the position of Ecumenical Patriarch can only be filled by a Turkish citizen. Sign the petition to reopen it at www.greece.org

20 August 2007

Turkey's Aggression in Cyprus and Kissinger's Complicity by Gene Rossides

In July and August 1974, 33 years ago, Turkey committed aggression,
war crimes, ethnic cleansing and executed an apartheid policy in
Cyprus, with the full complicity of then Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger. As is well known, Kissinger rejected the advice of Tom
Boyatt, his Cyprus Desk Officer, to inform the Greek junta to stop any
action against the democratically elected Cypriot Government of
President Makarios.

As
I have written previously and often, the public record is clear
regarding Kissinger’s role in encouraging the Greek junta’s attempted
coup against Makarios on July 15, 1974 and the invasion of Cyprus by
Turkey on July 20, 1974. After the coup, Kissinger’s actions proved
his complicity in the coup and invasion. First, he refused to denounce
the coup while all others, Great Britain and the world’s democracies,
denounced it. If Kissinger had denounced the coup, the Greek junta
would have fallen and the crisis ended. But Kissinger wanted to oust
Makarios. Second, Kissinger directed the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
to postpone the Monday night, July 15, 1974 emergency U.N. Security
Council session on Cyprus, to Friday, July 19, 1974. This gave Turkey
time to prepare to invade Cyprus. Third, he actually leaked to the
New York Times on Wednesday July 17, 1974 that the State Department was
leaning towards Sampson, whom the coup leaders installed as President
of Cyprus, over Makarios. This gave the Turks an excuse to invade, as
they opposed Sampson.

The invasion and aggression by Turkey against
Cyprus was a two-phase operation. The first phase was the initial
invasion of July 20, 1974 which occupied 4 percent of Cyprus’
territory. Kissinger refused to denounce the Turkish invasion and
declare Turkey in violation of U.S. laws by the illegal use of U.S.
arms for aggression. Britain and most other nations denounced the
invasion. Again, if Kissinger had denounced the invasion and stopped
arms to Turkey immediately, as the law required, the matter would have
been resolved in short order, and the second wave of the invasion would
not have occurred.

The Greek junta fell on July 23, 1974 and former
Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis was sworn in with a unity
government. Democracy was restored in Greece, and elections were held
in November 1974, in which Karamanlis won election as prime minister. The
coup government of Nicos Sampson in Cyprus also fell on July 23, 1974
and the President of the Cypriot House of Representatives, Glafkos
Clerides, was sworn in as Acting President under the constitution.
Thus, the legitimate government of Cyprus had been restored eight days
after the coup. Britain, Greece and Turkey, the guarantor powers,
entered into negotiations in Geneva- following the first U.N. ceasefire
on July 22, 1974. Kissinger was kept advised about the negotiations. On
August 13, 1974 Turkey issued a 36-hour ultimatum to Greece and Britain
to accept Turkey’s proposal, which was tantamount to partition, for six
separate Turkish Cypriot “cantons” consisting of 34 percent of the
island nation for the 18-percent minority community. That same day,
the State Department spokesman, Ambassador Robert Anderson, issued the
following statement, cleared by Secretary Kissinger, saying that the
Turkish Cypriots needed more security (although there was no evidence
of any danger to the Turkish Cypriot community): “The United States
position is as follows: We recognize the position of the Turkish
community in Cyprus requires considerable improvement and protection.
We have supported a greater degree of autonomy for them. The parties
are negotiating on one or more Turkish autonomous areas. The avenues of
diplomacy have not been exhausted, and therefore the United States
would consider a resort to military action unjustified. We have made
this clear to all parties.”

That statement was blatant support of
Turkey’s outrageous ultimatum and an invitation to use further force.
Ambassador Anderson also stated that “the United States has been
playing an active role in the negotiations,” and that Kissinger “has
been in frequent contact with Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit, including
four times by telephone within the past 24 hours.” On August 14,
1974 Turkey unilaterally broke off the negotiations and violated the
ceasefire; launched a second more massive aggression without a pretext;
occupied more than 37 percent of Cyprus, up from less than five percent
occupied as a result of the first attack of July 20, 1974; and forcibly
expelled more than 170,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes and
properties. Kissinger refused to denounce Turkey’s massive second wave
of invasion and aggression. The government of Cyprus filed three
applications to the European Commission on Human Rights. The
Commission issued its report on the charges made in the first two
applications on July 10, 1976. In it, the Commission found Turkey
guilty of violating the following articles of the European Convention
on Human Rights:

1. Article 2 – by the killing of innocent civilians committed on a substantial scale.2. Article 3 – by the rape of women of all ages from 12 to 71.3. Article 3 – by inhuman treatment of prisoners and persons detained.4. Article 5 – by deprivation of liberty with regard to detainees and missing persons, a continuing violation.5.
Article 8 – by displacement of persons, creating more than 170,000
Greek Cypriot refugees, and by refusing to allow the refugees to return
to their homes, a continuing violation.6. Article 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention – by deprivation of possessions, looting and robbery on an extensive scale.

On
January 23, 1977 the London Sunday Times published excerpts of the
report and stated, “It amounts to a massive indictment of the Ankara
government for murder, rape and looting by its army in Cyprus during
and after the Turkish invasion of summer 1974.” In the second phase
of its invasion, three weeks after the legitimate government of Cyprus
had been restored, Turkey committed war crimes, ethnic cleansing and
applied an apartheid policy to Cyprus. Members of Turkey’s political
and military leadership at that time should have been tried as war
criminals. But since Turkey was a U.S. ally and a member of NATO, the
U.S. applied a double standard to Turkey and did nothing. In effect,
through Kissinger’s actions and deliberate inactions, the U.S. became
an accomplice to Turkey’s actions and policies, which severely damaged
U.S. interests.Robert J. McCloskey, a career Foreign Service
officer with the State Department from 1955 to 1981, is best known as
press spokesman for the department from 1964 to 1973. In 1973 he was
named and confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus. The October 1973 Middle
East War shortened his time in Cyprus because the new Secretary of
State, Henry Kissinger, asked him to return to be on his immediate
staff as media and policy adviser. In a tribute to Ambassador McCloskey
in the Mediterranean Quarterly (Winter 1997), Nikolaos A. Stavrou and
Raymond C. Ewing wrote the following: “In a 1989 oral history
interview (Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training, Arlington
Hall, Arlington, Virginia), McCloskey recalled two incidents from the
summer of 1974, when he offered advice to Secretary Kissinger which, in
both cases, was not accepted. First, McCloskey said he urged a tougher
U.S. public response to the July Greek junta coup against Cyprus
President Archbishop Makarios. Second, he recommended an immediate
suspension of deliveries of military equipment to Turkey after Turkey’s
second enlarged action in Cyprus in August. That suspension was
eventually taken by Congress rather than the Executive Branch.
McCloskey felt that these two failures to take quick and decisive
action reflected an incoherence in U.S. policy toward Cyprus and the
Eastern Mediterranean, and the effects continued for many years
thereafter.”

Kissinger bears the primary responsibility for the
Cyprus tragedy of 1974, including all the deaths, rapes, destruction
and looting involved. The U.S. has a moral responsibility to redress
the situation. The U.S. should also redress the situation because a
unified Cyprus with a constitution based on majority rule, the rule of
law and protection of minority rights, as called for by President
George W. H. Bush in 1988, is in the strategic interests of the U.S.

Gene Rossides is President & Founder of the American Hellenic Institute
and a former Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury.

Comments

Yes, he Cypriots and the koumbari from the east. However, the recent developments in Cyprus are equally interesting. Apparently oil fields have been found on the southern shore on Cyprus wth many oil bidders from China, Norway, US and UK showing interest in exploring those fields. If the Greek Cypriots drill this fields, and they are eager to do so, Cyprus would become of the richest countries in the world. Now enter the Turks. Accordig to these people, Cyprus does not have the right to drill on the Southern Shore, and Turkey should participate in these explorations! Of course the Turks send in their military ships to corrobarate their statements. This behaviour is simply incredible.

I belive we have mentioned this issue in another blog briefly, and there is a prophetic book from C. Collmer on this issue (ww.ccollmer.com) where he makes the point that oil reserves are availabe in the Ageis also. This might be the key point between Turko-Greek tension in the past, present and future.

Anyone who thinks that peace is breaking out all over the eastern Med is deluding themselves. The oil underneath the seabed in that area will make it a major flash point. Turkey's behavior is neither surprising nor unprecedented. Turkey considers itself a regional power. I fear that the oil wells of Kirkuk or the potential wells in the Aegean will make the Pashas think less than rationally.

Become a Fan

Searching for Ithaka

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
C. P. Cavafy

FAIR USE

This site may include excerpts of copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available consistent with the established practice of academic citation and in an effort to advance understanding of the issues addressed by My Greek Odyssey blog. This constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without fee or payment of any kind to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
All original material produced by the author and published on this site is copyrighted.

Posting

POSTING STANDARDS

User comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will not be accepted and will be removed from the site. Users who continue to violate any of my posting standards will be blocked.